Thread: Should I pay off a charge card literally by end of the month, or?

I plan to apply for the Amex Zync several months down the road, and as a charge card, I know it needs to be paid in full every month- I guess the simple question is: are their charge card due dates literally due at the end of each month, or can you select/activate your due date at any day of the month you'd like? At the moment I have my other credit card due date lined up about the middle of the month, as I find it more convenient than having to pay everything at the literal end of the month, in my situation anyhow.

And another silly question: can you continually make small chunks of payments throughout the month whenever you want like a credit card, or are you forced to pay ONCE per statement? I guess it may be redundant since there's no official credit line per se, but was just curious.

As far as I know, they set a due date and statement end date for you. And I'm pretty sure you can make more then 1 payment per month, not sure how many though. I usually pay in full 3 days before my statement end date.

My due date is the 8th and my billing cycle ends on the 24th. I did not choose the date either but you may be able to ask
for a change of due date. You can also make multiple payments throughout the month.

Originally Posted by Meltdownblitz

I usually pay in full 3 days before my statement end date.

To clarify, you're making payment before you receive your invoice, correct? Is there any sort of advantage to doing that?

The one advantage to paying before the billing cycle closes is it will lower your utilization, as the balance at the end of the cycle is what gets reported to the credit bureaus. I used to do that when my limit was $2000 but now that it's $13000 I'm not so concerned.

Originally Posted by LTomBerry

The one advantage to paying before the billing cycle closes is it will lower your utilization, as the balance at the end of the cycle is what gets reported to the credit bureaus. I used to do that when my limit was $2000 but now that it's $13000 I'm not so concerned.

Yeah, pretty much as he said, pay before the statement closes because the creditor will report to the bureau the ending balance at the statement end date. To keep your utilization down (credit score as well)

Originally Posted by Meltdownblitz

Yeah, pretty much as he said, pay before the statement closes because the creditor will report to the bureau the ending balance at the statement end date. To keep your utilization down (credit score as well)

I think we're wandering a little off topic. ivotedale was asking about charge cards, not credit cards. It would be counterproductive to pay your balance in full before the closing of your statement on a charge card because your ending balance is what gets reported. If you did this all the time for a charge card, it would appear as though you never used your card. Since interest is not charged on these cards, there's really no reason to pay off your balance before your statement closes (unless you have an abnormally high balance for your spending pattern).

In any case, charge cards are not included in the calculation of your credit utilization.

Originally Posted by Capital

I think we're wandering a little off topic. ivotedale was asking about charge cards, not credit cards. It would be counterproductive to pay your balance in full before the closing of your statement on a charge card because your ending balance is what gets reported. If you did this all the time for a charge card, it would appear as though you never used your card. Since interest is not charged on these cards, there's really no reason to pay off your balance before your statement closes (unless you have an abnormally high balance for your spending pattern).

In any case, charge cards are not included in the calculation of your credit utilization.

I think I disagree with that. I'm not positive but just from what I've heard that doesn't sound accurate. Charge cards do count towards utl, I have also seen on my credit report that my balances and utl have raised once Amex reports my balance from my charge card. And just because you pay in full before the statement cut doesn't mean you don't use your card. Besides I would only do that if I wanted to have the best credit score that I could have if I was applying for any type of credit anytime soon.

Perhaps we're arguing over terminology? I believe I would want to pay before the due date as opposed to paying before the statement release date.

According to an unofficial wiki post, regarding the utilization issue, depends on the issuer:

"According to a CardHub.com NPSL study, the way NPSL charge cards are reported to the major credit bureaus varies by issuer and can lead to artificial increases in credit utilization, thereby lowering one’s FICO Score[3]."

the original link can be seen here:
Charge card - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

But assuming Amex doesn't consider utilization at all, that would leave the other categories of the FICO scoring to factor in the score: Payment history, length of credit history, types of credit, new credit, etc as per myfico.com's article on What's In Your FICO Score.

So I guess just by having it, it will help as far as length of history/payment history goes for the most part.

But I digress. In all honesty, I probably earn $15-17k a year at my current job- do y'all think the Zync would be a great fit, especially aimed at the younger crowd like me?

Originally Posted by ivotedale

But I digress. In all honesty, I probably earn $15-17k a year at my current job- do y'all think the Zync would be a great fit, especially aimed at the younger crowd like me?

Since you asked:
If that is your total net (or even gross) income, I would avoid anything that had an annual fee. I do not know what is in your wallet but if you have a major CC (MC, Visa, Amex or Discover), I would apply for another CC from another network.

If you just want an Amex:
I know some of the younger people in my company have Amex Clear. I do not know the requirements for the Clear card, but I cannot see it as being that high after seeing in in some people's wallet. This way even when you get better cards (higher limits, better rewards, etc), you can leave the Clear open w/out annual fees. (To be honest: I am mentioning Clear because it seems to be in younger people's wallets.)